Wild Beast
by LuvversLuvvie
Summary: Sasuke is training with Orochimaru, seeking power and more importantly, an escape from Konoha. While training, he finds what can only be described as a wild beast. SasuNaru.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters. I bought some posters, and maybe an episode or two on iTunes, but other than that I only borrow.**

**I get annoyed with newer stories sometimes. So to appease myself, I write my stories.**

**This one was slightly inspired by when in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (remember that show?) Angel came back from Hell and was a feral beast. I then used that idea and wrote this.**

**Summary: Sasuke is at Orochimaru's, seeking power and more importantly, an escape from Konoha. While training, he finds what can only be described as a wild beast.**

* * *

Sasuke was apathetic.

What could be a more accurate description of how Sasuke was, however, would be that Sasuke refused to let himself feel much of anything these days. Ever since he chose to abandon Konoha, he's been conflicted and it was just easier to not feel anything.

Sasuke knew why he chose this path. It is the only path he could choose. He needs to get stronger; he needs power. Orochimaru could give it to him. He had nothing to learn from Konoha. That place held nothing for him.

Well, maybe a certain blonde…

No. No! Konoha had nothing! He gained everything he could from that place and those people. At this point, they were only holding him back. Sasuke needed to move on to a more skilled plain. Konoha was determined to keep Sasuke on a weak plateau and he couldn't stand it. The Hokage and the Senseis were determined to keep him doing weak-ass missions so they could mold him to their liking. It was sickening.

And all those villagers! They treated him like a fucking doll! Always keeping him at arm's length—not that he really minded that part as he hated them anyways. Treating him as a one-dimensional personality. Only looking at him and claiming it is "love". Sasuke hated it all.

There was only one person who treated him like a person. Only one person in that village saw Sasuke for himself rather than as the Uchiha the rest saw him as. Only one person let Sasuke open up. Only one person opened themselves up to Sasuke. Sasuke fell in love with-

No. Sasuke left the village and…that…person.

Sasuke had made the smart choice. Dammit, he made the only logical choice. Konoha held him back and Orochimaru would help him achieve his revenge.

Revenge was Sasuke's life now. He needed to get more powerful so he can finally defeat his brother. Itachi stole everything from him and he deserved to die for killing their entire family. Sasuke was willing to do anything to make sure that he killed Itachi.

He was glad—an Uchiha equivalent of "glad"—that he made the right choice. Orochimaru was the only way he could get the power he deserved and his revenge. But he couldn't help feeling that it wasn't the right decision because now he didn't have Na—

But this WAS the right decision. It's the logical decision. The only decision. Sasuke knew it. He didn't have time to have feelings of regret when this was clearly the right decision to make.

So Sasuke felt nothing.

He had gotten pretty good at it during the past year. Sure, at the beginning, he had the tiniest bit of trouble perfecting this new mind set. It's not like he had any problem dealing with leaving the village; just certain….things…he left there. But that went away during the first few months.

That is, until today. Sasuke actually had to work to keep himself from _feeling_ today. Well, anything other than the usual irritation.

Sasuke attributed this to how he was woken up by Kabuto today.

Apparently, Sasuke slept in today and Orochimaru didn't "appreciate" that so he spent his servant to wake Sasuke up.

Not that Sasuke really gave a damn. He was there because _he_ chose to. Not because of Orochimaru specifically. If anyone else gave him the same opportunity then he'd definitely take it, Orochimaru was simply the person he was using to further his own skills. So as far as Sasuke was concerned, that snake bastard could shrivel up somewhere and rot.

So Sasuke felt no remorse for shocking Kabuto so badly his idiotic ponytail singed, that glasses-wearing kiss-ass was even more disposable than the snake. Kabuto would think twice about walking into Sasuke's room. Sasuke made sure of it with a not-so-subtle promise of what would happen the next time he tried it.

Kabuto had told him—with as much dignity as a badly singed man with smoking pants could muster—that it was almost time for his training.

Sasuke almost growled, but that would be showing some form of emotion to someone who was clearly not even close to being worth the effort. So he contented himself with an expressionless, passing glare and headed outside towards this hideout's training grounds.

**Wild Beast**

It wasn't the best day for training. There was a little drizzle outside. Not enough to make a real hindrance, but definitely enough to be irritating.

The drizzle made everything misty. It made the area slightly colder and a whole lot wetter. The foliage around the area was as wet as if it was really raining. A person could be just as wet if they stayed outside for more than 20 minutes, or maybe less. It made everything seem colder and very slick. Finding sturdy footing was hard, so people kept slipping. Plus, all the mist made things harder to see.

Sure, it was a helpful "lesson" to learn how to properly fight in the mist, but one Sasuke already knew. He had had some time to learn this lesson back when he was a part of Team Seven. It irritated him how it reminding him of the reason for his slight uneasiness that he had spent months blocking out.

He took out his irritation on the poor fools the snake bastard brought out to "play".

"My, my, my, Sasuke." Orochimaru hissed as he crept behind Sasuke. He might have placed a hand on Sasuke, but he had taught the snake early on to never ever touch him.

Sasuke simply sheathed his katana, not acknowledging that he heard anything.

"A little…irritated, are we?" Orochimaru moved closer, "Did we wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

Sasuke got annoyed whenever people talked to him here. Orochimaru only ever proved to show that he's a pedophile with a fetish for snakes as he kept trying to incorporate himself with Sasuke by saying "we" and elongating any "S"s. And Kabuto would speak in a smug way, attempting to infer that he was more important than Sasuke until he was shut up with a glare. It was all very annoying.

Sasuke turned away from the people he had knocked out—they aren't worth being killed—and the snake. He wanted to be left alone.

"Awwwww, not leaving so soon, are we, Sasuke?" Orochimaru moved to the other side of Sasuke.

"Hn." Sasuke said as he closed his eyes. He had "played this game" with the snake before. Sasuke had more patience than the other, so he always "won".

"That's so sad. I feel as if you never want to spend time with us." Orochimaru pretended to simper.

"Hn."

"And all you do is isolate yourself. That's not healthy for a boy your age, you know. I'm quite worried about you."

"Hn."

"A boy your age should be more active."

". . ." Sasuke didn't feel like dignifying the snake with an answer.

"A boy your age has. . .urges." Orochimaru was close behind him and practically whispered.

". . ."

"But you aren't like most boys, are you?"

". . ."

"Most boys your age would have bed anyone willing in your position."

"Hn." Sasuke answered to make the process go by faster.

"But not you. You, my dear Sasuke, are a one-person-man."

"Hn."

"But your precious person isn't here, right Sasuke?" the whisper got softer.

". . ."

"He's back in Konoha, isn't he Sasuke?"

". . . .Hn." Sasuke began to walk away. Damn that snake bastard. He "won" this time.

Sasuke could hear the bastard chuckling behind him, "Bye-bye, Sasuke."

**Wild Beast**

Sasuke growled a little. He was more than merely irritated this time. This time, Sasuke was fucking pissed. How dare that snake bastard bring up. . .that. . .person? The one Sasuke refused to think about?

Sasuke had taken an extra-long walk to calm himself down. Usually, after training Sasuke would walk for at most around half an hour and find a quiet place to pass the time. Sometimes he would do some solitary training as that was the main reason why he was here. But today, Orochimaru had pissed Sasuke so much that Sasuke had wandered around for almost two hours.

He was sure that he had walked around in some small circles. Whenever he would recognize a little landmark in the area from this walk, Sasuke would simply walk in another direction. They had arrived at this hideout the day before yesterday so the area was relatively new to him, and he had at least a month to learn the scenery; maybe two months. He knew they were in Fire Country as he recognized the kinds of trees, but he took solace in the fact that they were in no way close to Konoha.

Sasuke found his way to an enclosed little clearing. He saw that there was a small waterfall, only wide enough for a burley person to stand sideways in; but around 7 meters tall. Next to the waterfall was a bunch of rocks, both boulders and part of the large hill the waterfall was falling from. There were trees surrounding the area in a haphazard way, some having fallen down either on each other or all the way to the ground. It was a perfect hideout in Sasuke's opinion. It was also beautiful, even in the mist.

The beauty pissed Sasuke off even more.

Sasuke growled a little now that he was, finally, alone. He could show the emotions he hid whenever he was alone.

Sasuke took in a breath to let loose a pissed off growl again when he stopped. He thought he heard something.

It _sounded_ like a growl, but a real one. Sasuke's growls were noises he made of frustration. He knew they were intimidating to others, but they were undeniably human. But the growl Sasuke _thought_ he heard was more animalistic, but at the same time not.

Sasuke couldn't explain it. It sounded like no other animal he had ever heard. It sounded softer than a large animal in volume, but just as harsh and threatening.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and looked around the area carefully from the spot he stood. Perhaps this animal was nocturnal and was hidden, but felt the need to protect their territory.

It would have been annoying, but once Sasuke learnt what animal he was dealing with, he would leave "their" territory. It's not as if he was worried, it would simply be pointless to try to fight for a territory that he'd only be near for two months at most.

But Sasuke was curious as to what animal would openly threaten something—Sasuke guessed—larger than itself. Sasuke hadn't bothered to mask his chakra so this animal obviously felt secure enough to challenge such an experienced ninja. It intrigued him.

The growl sounded again, from between some rocks and a fallen tree behind a bush. Sasuke took a hesitant step in that direction. Did he really want to find out what animal this was head on? It was probably used to ambushing its prey like that.

Sasuke decided against going forwards and instead jumped to the lowest branch of a sturdy and tall tree. He was about as high as the waterfall. He jumped to a slightly lower branch in the direction of the growling.

When he looked down, Sasuke almost fell from the tree. He was truly shocked.

The animal was Naruto.

But this was a Naruto that Sasuke had never seen before!

Naruto was still wearing his orange jumpsuit, but it was mostly torn; as was his forehead protector. Naruto was crouching on the forest floor on all fours much like an animal, and was softly growling like one. He wasn't facing Sasuke, but was sniffing the air with his eyes closed. Naruto's scars on his cheeks were darkened; more feral than what Sasuke remembered.

Suddenly, Naruto stopped sniffing and in one swift movement turned to face Sasuke and opened his eyes.

Sasuke would have gasped, but he is an Uchiha. Naruto's eyes were red; deeper than blood red. His pupils were slits, much like an animal's. The only times Sasuke had seen Naruto's eyes like this were after the Chuunin Exams and when they had last fought.

Back then, those red, slitted eyes had put Sasuke at unease; they unnerved him. But he could tell that it was still Naruto inside.

These eyes, however, almost scared him. He couldn't see his dob—NARUTO anywhere in those eyes. They could only be described as a beast's eyes. Judging by those eyes, Naruto now considered Sasuke as threatening food.

Sasuke jumped down from the tree a good 10 meters away from Naruto. All the while, those beastly eyes had followed his every step.

Sasuke de-activated his Sharingan, maybe that was putting Naruto in such a state.

". . .Usuratonkachi?" Sasuke said hesitantly.

Naruto snarled as a reply, bearing surprisingly long canine teeth. Was this truly Naruto? Maybe this was all a trick set up by that snake bastard. He _did_ un-provokingly bring up Naruto after training which led Sasuke to take an extra-long walk to this clearing.

This Naruto-thing _was_ in the shadows. And the mist _was_ slightly obscuring Sasuke's vision. Maybe the shock of seeing something resembling Naruto was playing with his mind. This probably _was_ some form of elaborate trick.

More confident, Sasuke looked straight into this animalistic-hoax's eyes.

"Dobe." He said as he took a step closer in order to reverse the genjutsu or figure out what the hell this trick actually was.

As soon as he took those steps, the animalistic-hoax attacked.

It bounded towards Sasuke on all fours, much like an animal would, snarling the entire time. He was bearing his surprisingly long and sharp canines and opened his mouth as he got closer, preparing to bite.

With a startled yell, Sasuke instinctually jumped up to a branch in the tree above him.

He looked down and saw It facing upwards, growling. He was still crouching, but he was taking his time. He was waiting for Sasuke to come down like before.

This hoax was getting on Sasuke's nerves. Was it not enough to torture him by simply mentioning what he left in Konoha? Now he had to fucking _see_ his dob—NARUTO? And what's more, it couldn't be a regular Naruto? Did it really have to be this wild beast version?

Deciding he's had enough, Sasuke calmly stood up. If this was a hoax, he wouldn't give that snake bastard the satisfaction of knowing that it was getting to him. With one final look down at It, Sasuke headed back towards the hideout.

He heard It growl as he left.

**Wild Beast**

Sasuke discovered that the clearing he had discovered was only about an hour away if one walked in a fast pace. He estimated it would take forty minutes to run and an hour and a half to walk.

It was just about time for Kabuto to serve dinner. Sasuke would usually ignore the other two and simply take his food into his room and return the dishes the next morning for Kabuto to clean while Sasuke and Orochimaru trained, but today he would join them to learn the meaning behind the Naruto-hoax.

"Ohhhhh, Sasuke! How wonderful of you to join us." Orochimaru said in a deceivingly cheerful tone while Kabuto looked at Sasuke as if "wonderful" was the last word on his mind.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as he brought his food to the far side of the table.

"Kabuto and I were just discussing with each other about dear little Konoha, weren't we, Kabuto?" Orochimaru hissed, projecting his voice loud enough so Sasuke could hear every word.

"…Yes, Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto said with an obvious reluctance join Sasuke into the conversation.

"Ah yes, the place has gotten so much duller now that their precious jinchuuriki is out of the village." Orochimaru said as he sipped whatever potion he had concocted for today's meal.

'_Jinchuuriki? What's that_?' Sasuke inwardly asked. It probably wasn't all that important, just a ploy to get Sasuke to participate in the conversation.

"It might be a perfect time for an attack." Kabuto suggested all to quickly as if he was afraid Sasuke would actually participate and dominate the conversation and Orochimaru's attention.

"Oh no, no, no, no, Kabuto." Orochimaru chastised, "Every village without their jinchuuriki gets itself extra protection to make up for their missing weapon."

'_Weapon? Konoha had a weapon_?' Sasuke wondered, though allowed no hint of it enter his expression or uninterested demeanor.

"But don't villages try to run out their junchuurikis?" Kabuto asked in a halfway confused voice.

"So much of this world you have to learn, Kabuto. The villagERS are the ones who attempt to drive out the jinchuuriki by socially exiling them and from time to time beat them when they get the chance, but the Kages can never officially exile them as their Bijus are far too valuable." Orochimaru explained to his servant, and Sasuke who was secretly listening.

"So why does Konoha no longer have their jinchuuriki?" Kabuto asked.

"Hmmmm? Well our friends, the Akatsuki have been after our dear little blonde jinchuuriki because of the Kyuubi sealed within him so the Hokage seems to have sent him with Jiraiya in hopes of making him strong enough to control the Nine-Tailed Fox." Orochimaru explained with a twisted smile on his face as if he knew Sasuke's head was suddenly swimming with confused thoughts, questions, and memories all at once at his words.

"With him out of the village and the Akatsuki after him, wouldn't it be ideal to capture him and use him for our own purposes?" Kabuto asked with a little excitement, but lost said excitement when Orochimaru gave him a sneer.

"No, you idiot. While I would love to kill two birds with one stone by killing such an unstable force, he is unfortunately protected by Jiraiya." Orochimaru practically spat out the last part.

Kabuto was subdued by the answer and Orochimaru seemed to have decided that Kabuto had taken the fun out of taunting Sasuke with this new knowledge. After finishing his meal, Sasuke left his dishes on the table for Kabuto to begrudgingly clean up after him and went to his temporary room.

Thoughts were whirling through Sasuke's head as he considered what Orochimaru had told him. He decided that the snake bastard was probably telling the truth because, while he did like to manipulate others, he only used the truth. Orochimaru liked seeing people's reactions and loved the sincerity behind it even more.

Thoughts were whirling uncontrollably through his head. If he tried to think about one thing, then another though overpowered the first and the second until he started to get a headache.

Sasuke needed to organize his thoughts.

He decided to start with the simplest and make his way through this new knowledge.

Naruto was no longer in the village. The Hokage knew about this and he was with Jiraiya, so Naruto was out of the village on their terms.

Naruto was supposable safe on this training journey thing. Orochimaru was clearly wary of Jiraiya, enough to be openly pissed at Kabuto for suggesting challenging him. Sasuke knew that Jiraiya already had a soft spot for the blonde so there was no question that Jiraiya wouldn't do everything in his power to protect Naruto. And Orochimaru was clearly wary of Jiraiya, enough to be openly pissed at Kabuto for suggesting challenging him. If Orochimaru had doubts on facing the toad sage, then no doubt countless others will be scared off.

But the biggest, Naruto was a "jinchuuriki". Sasuke guessed that term was the official name for someone with a tailed beast sealed within them. He vaguely remembered reading about the tailed beasts, particularly the Nine-Tailed Fox. The Uchihas had many scrolls about the Kyuubi, especially since the fox attacked Konoha.

Wait—Kyuubi attacked fourteen years ago on October 10th. . .

Naruto was born fourteen years ago on October 10th. . .

It suddenly clicked. Sasuke was seriously doubting this "jinchuuriki" thing at first, but that seemed to be what made it real. Suddenly, all the glares Naruto would receive in the village made sense. The way Naruto always flinched at any words related to "monster". How Naruto seemed to have endless chakra.

Suddenly the extra power Naruto gained during the exams and their last fight made sense.

Sasuke had seen pictures of the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon. Those eyes had haunted him whenever he thought back to those scrolls.

Sasuke looked back on his memories of when Naruto had been overtaken by the Fox's power and realized that those were the same eyes.

The same eyes Sasuke had seen in the clearing.

Sasuke reviewed what he knew: Naruto is the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi and he is out of the village.

Maybe there was chance of the _thing_ Sasuke had seen earlier really _was_ Naruto...

But he'd have to go back tomorrow to make sure.

* * *

**And that was Chapter One.**

**I have found that I am easily annoyed these days. It's most likely a mild form of PMS, but the annoyance is still there. During these annoyance times, I have found that I also get annoyed at other authors. It's totally not their faults, just mine and my hormones—which I so don't remember don't remember trading cooties for. I don't get annoyed at the work involved, the dedication involved, or the ideas behind it. Not at all. It's mostly bad grammar, cliché plots and changing the characters. I admit that I am somewhat guilty of those charges, but the excessive ones are the ones that peeve me.**

**Oh, and OC characters. I hate them as main characters because main character OC people almost always turn out to be Mary-Sue types and totally turn into canon-sues. I admit, I have used OC characters in my story The Ultimate Weapon, but I tried to keep them in the background as much as possible.**

**But that's my babbles/venting of my annoyance. It's not just me, though, I swear. My annoyances are shared by others and usually I just ignore it but when I'm in these moods they eat away at my literary soul.**

**But by the time this gets published I'll probably be over it.**

**But reviieeeewwww! Reviews make my day and make me smile, thus releasing me of my moodiness.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Which is good, 'cause I am kinda bad at deadlines; especially the self-given type.**

**I'll be frank with ya, I don't really know where this story is going, so I'm freelancing it; winging it. I write and it becomes. So I'm personally not expecting all that much from this fanfic. That is not to say that I won't put forth any effort, quite the contrary. But usually I know where I want to take my stories and the whole storyline and scenes are in my head, just without the words. This time I went against my usual path and published before picturing the climax! At the time, I wanted to see who would be interested and now I'm all 'Why, muse, WHY?' But she is irrefutable and I must listen to her else I would not be able to write anything good!**

**So onward with the chapter!**

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha was annoyed.

He did not get much sleep last night, maybe an hour or two at most. Whenever he closed his eyes, memories of. . .that person. . .would attempt to replay themselves in his mind despite him consciously trying to avoid _those_ memories. Not that his infuriating brain listened to him; all night he had to diligently distract himself from images of. . .that person. . .from the past and from yesterday, if that _thing_ was really _him_.

What was really aggravating was have to re-confirm to himself _many_ times that it did not matter if IT was really Nar—_that_ person. Sasuke kept fucking _feeling_ whenever he thought about _him_; it was almost just as bad as when he had first arrived. And just like last time, he had to firmly tell himself that even IF Sasuke saw _him_ then it would not make a damn difference! Sasuke needed to get stronger and Orochimaru was the only way!

But those images of _him_ from during the Chuunin exams and during their fight in that damned valley kept popping up. His damned mind kept comparing those memories of _him_ with the _him_ from yesterday.

They had the same feral scarring, same elongated nails, and the same feel to _his_ chakra. But there were definitely some differences. _HE_ seemed older yesterday than before. And those eyes. . .they were the same blood red color and same animalistic pupils, but they were not they eyes Sasuke remembered from his memories.

Before—during the Chuunin exams and during that fight in that damned valley—while _his_ eyes had changed, they were still _HIS_ eyes! They still retained _his_ essence and soul. So while at the time, Sasuke was extremely mystified as to why _his_ eyes had changed to radically from sapphire blue to blood red, there was no question that it was still _him_.

But yesterday. . .those eyes were not _his_ eyes. Those eyes from yesterday were those of a wild beast. There was none of _his_ essence, none of _his_ soul glimmering in those eyes. There was a certain ferocity only matched by apparent hunger. There was no human intelligence that Sasuke could see. There was only instinct that drove that animal.

Sasuke tried to rid himself of such thoughts, it made no difference to him if _he_ had truly appeared before him in that strange form. He constantly reminded himself that it did not change anything; he would NOT return to that village!

He needed power! He needed revenge! He did NOT need _HIM_ showing up not only physically but also in his fucking thoughts!

Sasuke was an Uchiha, so he was perfectly able to tell that pesky brain of his to STOP thinking about. . .that person. . .at least, for a couple of minutes. It had taken diligent and constant reminding, but Sasuke had made it through the night without thinking too much about _him_; and sleep.

A Sasuke without sleep was not a Sasuke to be messed with, as Kabuto found out all too soon when he merely knocked on the Uchiha's door. The glasses wearing man was seriously debating between cutting off his what he feared to be permanently singed ponytail or to start refusing wake-up duty all together.

The Uchiha was too tired to constantly keep up his Uchiha apathy. Fortunately, the only thing really felt was extreme annoyance. He lashed out many times when he would usually ignore whichever whelp decided to speak to him, or looked like they were thinking about talking to him. There sure was a lot today, and it was annoying; those fuckers.

He did not have the energy to put up with the snake bastard's perverted and twisted antics today, so instead of steadfastly ignoring him during breakfast, Sasuke allowed him to 'win' and sent him an Uchiha Glare signaling that he was _not_ in the mood.

Surprisingly, Orochimaru understood for the most part. He most likely understood that Sasuke's temper was testy today due to him being so tired even though the snake only had vague guesses as to why. It helped that last night some new prisoners tried to escape causing the wardens to have to kill a few; loudly. Sasuke would _NOT_ admit that. . .THAT person. . .was responsible for his inability to sleep last night. He simply allowed the snake to believe he was a light sleeper who could not sleep through the commotion those attempted escapees had made.

Breakfast, fortunately, was a silent event. Normally, Orochimaru and that weakling of a follower, Kabuto, would discuss the day's schedule and one or both of them would slide in annoying hints that they knew something Sasuke did not know and would deliberate between themselves in code hoping to entice Sasuke into interest.

But Sasuke blew up Kabuto's breakfast when he tried to start talking.

After that, people got the hint to not talk around the Uchiha.

**Wild Beast**

Training was irritating. Again.

The drizzle was worse than it was yesterday. The entire hideout was covered in mist yet there was still drizzle falling on all those who ventured outside.

The mist was not as condensed as Zabuza's was, but the slight rain made it almost as hard to fight in as it was with the rogue ninja.

Today, Sasuke was to spar with at least fifty of Orochimaru's experimental whelps; both for his training and so that the snake could see the progress of his sick mutations.

The mist and the light rain made things unbearably irritating and Sasuke just wanted the session to be over. It was not imperative for him to relearn lessons he had had to deal with while a Leaf ninja so he ended up frying most of his opponents in quick succession. While he did not kill anybody—they were not worthy nor did he feel the need to kill to gain experience—he did give more than a few second degree burns.

Sasuke supposed that had he been in his usual apathetic mood, he could have used the weather to his advantage and practice the silent killing technique that Zabuza had executed so famously.

But fuck that; Sasuke was pissed.

It had only taken Sasuke forty-five minutes to wipe out all of the enemies, and the timing irritated Sasuke. He knew he could have done better, even though today he had made a new record; the previous being an hour.

After he had burned the last opponent, Orochimaru began to clap for him; a mocking, well-spaced clap.

"Very good, Sasuke." The man spoke in a tone that was meant to be complimentary, proud even, but Sasuke knew that the man was up to his aggravating tricks.

"Fuck off." Sasuke snarled as he turned his back to the snake.

He was not sure what Orochimaru was expecting, but he was sure that it was not that based on the stunned silence behind him.

Maybe he should have cared that he was probably pissing off the snake, who would take out his frustrations out on Sasuke in irritating ways like erratic schedules, more useless training, or even infuriating discussions involving _that person_. But all Sasuke was concerned with was leaving the area as soon as possible.

Before Orochimaru could say anything else, Sasuke headed towards the forest. He needed a fucking walk.

The Uchiha just needed to relax; all the lack of sleep had made him stressed and tired. Maybe he could find a quiet place in the forest to rest. Maybe he could find somewhere picturesque and calming. Maybe he could see Nar—

NO!

Sasuke mentally shook his head so he would stop thinking about such nonsense. He would admit that he was going back to the clearing JUST to confirm that it really was _him_ that he saw yesterday. He would NOT, however, admit that he was excited. Not at all.

He was about to berate his idiotic mind for trying to get him to think he was _eager_ to see the clearing e saw yesterday when he realized that his legs were already taking him in the direction to the clearing _he_ was found in yesterday.

Heaving a defeated sigh, Sasuke allowed his legs to continue down a winding path towards the clearing to calm himself with a walk and in case he was being followed; if he was, then there would be hell to pay.

Fortunately, while coming back to the hideout from the clearing, Sasuke had used his Sharingan so he memorized the most direct way there and was able to map out the roundabout way towards his destination for future reference. In a way, it was therapeutic. Since he was on his way to see _him_, his mind allowed Sasuke to think about mapping out the rout in peace.

He could not see too far ahead due to the mist and the drizzle, but he was still able to make out some landmarks like large dips in the land and strangely shaped trees.

Sasuke had spent around two hours walking around—much like yesterday—before he saw the familiar ring of trees surrounding the clearing that was hidden behind them. The clearing was sure to be visible without the mist, though.

Upon seeing how close he was to the clearing, Sasuke went on the alert; _that person_ had known Sasuke was there yesterday as soon as he discovered the clearing but kept _his_ distance due to not recognizing Sasuke. The Uchiha was not sure whether _he_ would recognize him today or just that someone had entered the clearing, but he would not be taking chances.

The closer he got to the clearing, the more he questioned what he saw yesterday. Was that really _that person_? It seemed real, but there was always that chance that this was all an elaborate hoax. . .

At the thought, something in Sasuke's stomach fell; it felt like disappointment.

Wait—did that mean that Sasuke WANTED it to be _that person_?

No! That did not make sense! Sasuke did not care if that was _that person_! He was only here out of curiosity! He was here to check to see if it was a hoax, and since it probably was, he was here to see exactly WHOSE ass he would be kicking into next year.

Sasuke was diligently reminding himself exactly why it was that he was here when he—cautiously—entered the clearing.

Dammit.

It was just as fucking stunning as it was yesterday.

Just without the cliché rainbow on the waterfall seeing as the mist, drizzle, and the clouds shut the sun away. Thank Kami.

Wearily, Sasuke scanned the area for the thing he saw yesterday; he would not admit that it was _him_ until he saw IT again.

When he saw nothing, he scanned his memory to try to remember what he had done in order to make _it_ reveal _it_self to him.

Upon remembering, Sasuke mentally scowled. Yesterday, he had growled out of frustration which made _it_ growl in return. Did _it_ think Sasuke was speaking _it_'s animalistic language or something?

Mentally sighing and feeing ridiculous, Sasuke scanned the area again to make sure there was no other human around to bear witness.

He spread out his chakra, searching for any intruders and for _that person_.

Sasuke spread his chakra around a five meter radius when he encountered another source of chakra and froze. It was not the chakra of any of those twisted experiments, the glasses wearing servant, or the snake bastard. . .the chakra did not even feel remotely human.

It felt more ancient, powerful, and vile than anything any human could hope to unleash. It felt like. . .

. . .a demon. . .

Upon the realization of the only one Sasuke knew who it could be, he slowly and cautiously turned so he could face the source.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Sasuke made his way closer to the waterfall, close to where he first saw _it_ yesterday. He briefly wondered why _it_ had yet to come out to face the threat of another ninja who so obviously found them with their chakra.

Then Sasuke realized that of course something with such demonic chakra would have no need to defend itself from the threat because Sasuke's chakra was NO threat to something as vast and vile as THAT!

Sasuke grit his teeth. This was only MORE proof that he needed to stay with Orochimaru to train. If _that person_ could survive such chakra then Sasuke would strive to not only survive, but conquer.

The Uchiha inwardly groaned as he remembered that he did not bother to hide his chakra yesterday and IT still hadn't revealed itself until Sasuke had growled.

Fanning out his chakra once more to make sure that there would be _no_ witnesses, Sasuke noticed that IT's chakra was dormant; it had not changed from when Sasuke had initially scanned the area.

New discovery aside, Sasuke had made sure that there were no other chakra sources other than the two in the annoyingly beautiful clearing. Sighing, he mentally prepared himself for his self-humiliation of growling _on command_ as well as physically preparing himself to jump to a nearby tree.

Seeing that there was no point in stalling anymore, Sasuke huffed and let loose a throaty growl, hoping to entice IT out of hiding.

The effect was near instantaneous: the demonic chakra spurred to life and IT jumped out of the bushes, charging towards Sasuke.

Sasuke jumped for a nearby tree without low branches.

Up in the tree, Sasuke activated his sharingan and looked over IT.

IT was actually Naruto!

Through his Sharingan, he saw a sliver of Naruto's blue chakra near his heart. But it was almost completely overwhelmed by the vast multitude of red chakra radiating from his body!

Naruto sniffed around after Sasuke shot to the tree, crouched down on all fours with his eyes closed in order to focus on his nose.

Sasuke thought that with the mist and the rain it would be harder to locate his scent, but Naruto found his location quickly, looking up at him with those feral eyes.

He help eye contact, trying to find some semblance of his ursurato. . .NARUTO, but found none. He only saw an animal glaring back at him.

Naruto bared his elongated fangs at Sasuke, snarling at him as if annoyed that Sasuke was unreachable. Then he raised a clawed hand and swung at the tree Sasuke was perched in.

While he did not knock the tree down, there were deep claw marks left within the bark and the tree shook a little.

Seeing no need to stay in place, Sasuke jumped to another nearby tree, aware of red eyes following his every move.

This time, he landed on a comparatively lower branch, though still out of reach of Naruto's claws.

He noticed that Naruto's forehead protector was nowhere to be seen on his person. Considering that all of his clothes were ripped in various and multiple places, it was not a stretch to assume that it had fallen off or ripped as well. But a part of Sasuke remembered how much his dob—NARUTO had cherished that thing so much, placing it over his own wellbeing at times like when Zabuza was going to step on it. Sasuke also remembered how much emphasis his idio—NARUTO had placed in its symbolism during their fight in that damned valley. Seeing him without the thing only reinforced to Sasuke how this was not the Naruto from his memories.

There was also dried blood on Naruto's upper forearms as well as some staining his ripped orange sweatshirt.

Sasuke did not get to spend any more time observing the changes in his lov—NARUTO because Naruto had moved to clawing at the tree Sasuke was currently perched on.

Sasuke went to jump to another nearby tree when Naruto rammed into his current tree.

The bump combined with the wet surface made Sasuke slip.

As soon as his body left the branch, Naruto jumped up towards him, claws extended and fangs snapping at him.

Red eyes connected with the other set if red eyes, only seeing hunger and ferocity.

Sasuke twisted his body perpendicular to the tree trunk and kicked off of it.

Pouring extra chakra into his feet, Sasuke clung to another tree trunk, though he was too close to the ground.

Naruto lunged for him, growling the entire time.

Using the extra chakra, Sasuke kicked off the tree trunk back to his previous tree just before Naruto's clawed hands ripped the bark off of the tree trunk.

He repeated the pattern until he was a safe distance above Naruto who let loose a frustrated roar and started swinging his claws at the trees in earnest.

Seeing that the trees were less than safe, Sasuke jumped to the waterfall, landing on the rocks above it.

Naruto's eyes followed him the entire way and turned his body to crouch before the waterfall, waiting for Sasuke to come down.

Gazes connected once more. Naruto was staring with hunger and a frustration for losing his meal in his slitted eyes while Sasuke was staring with confusion and frustration for a lack of understanding in his tamoe dotted eyes.

Why? _Why_ was Naruto in such an animalistic state? He understood that Naruto was the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki, but he did not understand why that was affecting Naruto in such a way _now_!

The blonde had gone through thirteen years without anything like THIS happening, so why during Naruto's fourteenth year of being alive?

Sasuke's damned mind reminded him once more of those two times he had witnessed with kind of power but wrote it off. Those times were different. Those times, Naruto had been in control.

Not this time, though. This was _not_ Naruto. At least, this was not Naruto in control.

As Naruto crawled on all fours closer to the edge of the waterfall, Sasuke wondered exactly _who_ was in control of Naruto's body. Was this Kyuubi? From what Sasuke understood from the stories about the demon told to the children of the village, the memories retold to the older generations, and the scrolls concerning the demon in the Uchiha complex, the Kyuubi was hatred incarnate.

Sasuke did not doubt that after feeling the vile chakra against his own, but it did make him doubt that the demon from the legends was in control of his frien—NARUTO's body. Sasuke assumed that Kyuubi would not simply wait for his food but rather immobilize it and eat it without second thought.

Naruto reached the edge of the small cliff and started clawing at the rocks. They were too slippery for Naruto to jump on safely so he had apparently settled for clawing at them like he had with the trees.

From Sasuke's memory of the last time he had seen Naruto using the Kyuubi's chakra in that damned valley, Sasuke knew that while in that state Naruto had excellent control of the demonic chakra, able to extend tails, legs, and extra arms out of pure chakra at the enemy.

Sasuke assumed that was Kyuubi's influence since the usurato—NARUTO had never had great control over his own chakra.

Naruto had scraped himself a large indent into the small cliff's edge and had jumped up to crouch inside of it. He then focused on creating another indent to get closer to his meal.

Noticing this, Sasuke decided that his time in the clearing was over.

Sasuke stood up, careful of the water from the mist, rain, and waterfall, and poured chakra into his legs and jumped to a nearby treetop.

He heard an indignant roar behind him as he left the clearing.

Sasuke knew that there was a little piece of the Naruto from his memories somewhere in that wild beast he had left behind, and he was going to find out just how much of the old Naruto was actually in there.

* * *

**And that was the chapter.**

**I realized that annoyed at the literary levels in FF or not, one type of story I do not like on principle is the ones written as an excuse to write hard yaoi lemons. That is not to say that they do not have their sweet moments, like there are some where one uses sex to convey to the other just how much they mean to them, to reassure each other of their love for each other, or to reassure an individual that the other will always be there. But there are too many stories where the lemon part of the 'story' is almost twice as long as the 'plotline'.**

**Plus, there are too many of these 'stories' have no point other than to write their porn. It is annoying and I honestly prefer porn to them. At least in porn, it is very obvious that the sex is very much the point. Speaking of, I find the dialogue for pornos absolutely hilarious! My friend and I were watching a porno to show them just how ridiculous the introductions to these pornos really are. Two of our favorites were one with two hot nurses 'studying' for a medical exam. All we learned from the two's studying was that you shouldn't put a fake IV line in the ass, but apparently it feels good.**

**And one with two guys where the twink is the underwear-clad housekeeper 'cleans' the room:**

"**I think I finished everything here."**

"**You haven't finished me." **

**~Sex ensues~**

**Anyways, thank you for the faves/alerts! And an extra special thank you to those who reviewed! You guys feed my muse's needy side. She is quite insistent on those for inspiration so keep 'em comin'!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**It's a sad story…Sooooooo during a long weekend where I went home, I was practically finished with writing this chapter—just a couple of paragraphs to go! Then I left my computer so I could make myself some lunch since REAL food tastes soooo much better than cafeteria food. An hour later, I go back to my computer to find it dead. I think it's just a battery thing so I re-plug in the chord and try to turn it on when it beeps at me. Turns out, my laptop was DEAD dead =(. Apparently the motherboard died. We buy a new laptop and they offer a data transfer, and I think it'll be nbg; I'd just have to re-write a page or so. But no. Apparently, my hard-drive died too so no data was salvageable. No homework, pictures, notes, games, or stories were able to be transferred.**

**So that is my explanation for being so late.**

**Anyhoo, onwards with chapter 3!**

* * *

Sasuke would never admit that he was nervous.

It was six days after he had first seen Naruto in the waterfall clearing and he had been visiting him every day after training.

Like the first day, the weather was terrible; foggy with sporadic rain—Kabuto had mentioned to Orochimaru that there was a very large storm approaching. And just like the first day, and the day afterwards, Naruto had attacked Sasuke.

This beast-like Naruto never got the chance to land an attack on Sasuke, though. The Uchiha had always positioned himself so that he could quickly escape to a nearby tree, but there _has_ been more than one too close of a call for comfort…

But, while on his way to see Naruto again after training, Sasuke refused to admit that he was nervous. His heart rate was faster than usual merely because he had recently finished training with all of Orochimaru's experiments…over a half hour ago…

He had no reason to be nervous! Much less _frightened_! Uchihas do not DO 'nervous' or 'fear'. Even if that weren't true, Sasuke had come prepared today.

Last night, during dinner while Orochimaru's pet Kabuto was describing the weather patterns for the upcoming storm, Sasuke had considered many things about the beast-like Naruto he had been visiting daily.

He considered many things about his observations, like how the Kyuubi's overwhelming demonic chakra always ignored or simply never registered Sasuke's comparatively weak—he'd only admit this in his head and in comparison to a true demon's chakra—chakra until Sasuke stepped too close into the waterfall clearing that Naruto resided in. And even then he could feel that Kyuubi's chakra never registered him as a threat but as food or at most an annoyance!

He also considered how Naruto had appeared. His clothes were ripped in various and sporadic places, and splattered with dried blood; none of it his own, Sasuke observed, but from the fish he had managed to fish out from the small lake at the end of the waterfall that Naruto had eaten raw and wriggling. Naruto's nails were elongated into claws and his canine teeth had elongated into fangs that he would bare at Sasuke between growls. His eyes were red, slitted, and animalistic; there was none of Sasuke's crus—FORMER TEAMMATE in those eyes.

But above all, Sasuke had considered how Naruto had acted; they had developed a sort of routine over the past six days. First, Sasuke would enter the clearing and Naruto would completely ignore him. Then, Sasuke would approach the bush Naruto would hide or rest in—Sasuke did know what Naruto did in the bush other than stay out of sight—and Naruto would burst out and charge at Sasuke. Sasuke would escape, sometimes narrowly, and Naruto would claw at the trees or the rocks behind the waterfall while growling and bearing his fangs. Sasuke would stay high out of reach and Naruto would get bored eventually and go to the small lake to fish or leave the clearing to return with a small bird or other baby animal to eat, or sometimes coming back with nothing at all. Then Sasuke would leave before having to see his usurato—SEE NARUTO eat an animal raw or leave before his prolonged absence became suspicious.

Throughout all that, Sasuke noticed that Naruto had seemed perpetually hungry.

So during dinner—steak—Sasuke had scavenged away his meal as well as another steak that Kabuto had prepared. He was grateful that Orochimaru's experiments had a penchant for meat so that Kabuto regularly, if not daily, prepared meaty meals.

And today before training had started, Sasuke had gone over to the edge of the forest to place his Katana down so he could train in hand-to-hand (or extra limb, tentacle, whatever) without the use of weapons on his part. Orochimaru and Kabuto had seen this and had not commented other than the pet whisper something to the snake.

What they did not see was that Sasuke had also placed a bag with his meat in the shrubbery near his Katana, hidden from everyone else.

The smell had immediately gotten the attention of the experiments who had started to swarm to Sasuke for the bag not only contained the steak from the night before but also some pieces of bacon from breakfast.

Not that that mattered. Sasuke had beaten them without any real effort, like usual.

He had been able to leave after training without incident and without suspicion since it was his ritual. It was, however, harder to see his way without his Sharingan because the apparently fast-approaching storm had caused the fog to thicken.

But he was getting closer to the waterfall clearing. Even without his Sharingan he could tell.

He automatically tightened his grip on the bag he was holding—ONLY because he didn't want to drop it in the mist…no other reason.

Sasuke saw some of the trees that borderline the clearing and he felt his heart rate accelerate…because his body was preparing itself to pump chakra through itself to jump up through the trees.

He took a breath and continued forward into the clearing. He was mindful of his position so that he could find a dry spot on the tree next to him for when Naruto would charge at him if today was like the previous days since seeing him. Finding a dry spot was harder than before, though, because of the sporadic rain during the day.

He could not see Naruto, though that was normal was Naruto usually hid or rested or whatever in his bush, hidden from sight, by the time that Sasuke would finish with training and visit him.

Taking a deep breath, he reached into the bag and grabbed a piece of bacon from breakfast and threw it at the bush, much like he would with a shurikan.

Immediately Naruto burst out of the bush and charged at Sasuke, easily avoiding the thrown bacon.

Expecting this reaction, Sasuke had pumped chakra through his legs to boost his muscles so he could reach the dry spot and jumped as soon as Naruto burst out of the leaves.

Sasuke reached the tree, but under calculated just how slippery the residual water from the frequent spouts of rain could be and he slipped.

He could see Naruto's demonic eyes follow his movements and Sasuke could also see Naruto's body prepare to jump to intercept Sasuke's fall.

Unconsciously activating his Sharingan, Sasuke reached into the pouch much like he would with his holster and grabbed another slice of bacon.

When his fingers gripped the piece of meat, Sasuke threw it at Naruto.

As expected, Naruto leapt out of the way of the bacon as if it was a shuriken or another weapon.

Sasuke used the time Naruto spent dodging the harmless meat to find his footing and to find himself a dry spot underneath a particularly large branch that was rather high up the tree.

Looking down, Sasuke had to focus his Sharingan so he could see the Naruto through the fog.

He saw Naruto glaring up at him and baring his fangs at Sasuke.

Naruto looked just as beastlike as yesterday and the days before that. His hairs were standing on end and his clothes were still ragged and torn. His overall demeanor screamed wild beast.

Sasuke saw Naruto start to pace around the tree Sasuke was in and silently urging him to find the bacon in the hopes that he could feed Naruto the food in his pouch. As much as he hated considering his crus—FORMER TEAMMATE as an animal, he knew that Naruto's mind was not entirely his anymore.

What he didn't know, though, was what WAS going on through Naruto's mind! He was acting much like an animal would, and his outward appearance was almost exactly like when Naruto had fought him in the Valley of the End, just without that strange chakra cloak; or Kyuubi's chakra as he recently learned.

As Sasuke watched Naruto pace around the tree, he wondered if Naruto's mind was really the Kyuubi's now, and if so, why wasn't he hell-bent on destruction like all the stories he had heard of the Kyuubi as a child?

He remembered when he had used his Sharingan to scan Naruto's chakra on the second day that he had seen him and how even though the majority of the chakra that was being emitted from Naruto's body was overwhelmingly demonic, there was still a sliver of Naruto's own chakra.

Did that mean that Naruto was still in there? Was the happy-go-lucky and cut—KIND Naruto from his memories keeping the demon from rampaging by keeping Kyuubi to its basic animal instincts?

If only there was a way for him to somehow know what was happening in Naruto's mind!

His thoughts were put to a halt when Naruto started to claw at the tree Sasuke was in.

Sasuke grabbed another slice of bacon. This time, instead of throwing it at Naruto, he simply dropped it so it would land next to the animal.

As the meat fell, Naruto jumped aside to dodge it again.

Naruto looked at the meaty 'weapon' and glared at Sasuke again as he bared his fangs once more.

Sasuke held his gaze until Naruto decided to investigate the fallen bacon again.

Naruto circled the bacon, walking on all fours. After circling it twice, he bent down so that his chin was just above the ground and Sasuke pointedly focused on the upper half of Naruto's bent body.

Sasuke watched as Naruto sniffed the piece of bacon and smirked to himself as he saw Naruto's red eyes light up once the appealing scent reached his nose.

Naruto then poked it with his nose in an adorabl—ANIMALISTIC fashion, immediately jumping back as if expecting the bacon to explode or something.

The blonde then bent back down and crawled back towards the bacon. It was very cut—BEASTLIKE.

After sniffing the bacon again, Naruto's tongue slipped out through his fangs and Sasuke saw that it was salivating. Then Naruto gobbled up the bacon in one bite.

Naruto sat with his legs bent to the side and his arms extended in front of him while he chewed on the meat.

He then licked his lips and bent down to investigate the area where the bacon previously was. Upon thoroughly sniffing the area, he saw that there was no more bacon there he sat back up and began to try to lick his nose from when he had poked it.

Smiling slightly at how adorab—ANIMALISTIC the whole thing was, Sasuke grabbed another piece of bacon and tossed it so that it would land in front of another piece of bacon he had thrown earlier.

Naruto noticed it as it fell to the ground and immediately tensed into a crouching position and jumped away as it fell closer to the ground.

When it landed on the ground, Naruto looked between it and Sasuke; eyeing the meat with suspicion and glaring at Sasuke who did not dare jump to a lower branch just yet.

Naruto started crawling slowly towards the bacon, but constantly stopping to glare at Sasuke and bare his fangs intimidatingly. When Sasuke shifted his legs, Naruto turned around and growled at him until Sasuke kept still for a few minutes.

Then Naruto resumed crawling back to the piece of bacon that had just been thrown. He circled it twice, just like he did with the other piece of bacon, before bending over again so his chin was almost touching the ground.

He sniffed the bacon slice again and his tongue stuck out once more as he salivated. Sasuke then saw Naruto poke the bacon with his nose in his adorab—ANIMALISTIC way before eating it.

Naruto then sniffed the area again. His eyes lit up when he caught the scent of the other bacon piece Sasuke had thrown the last piece close to and hurried over to the meat.

Sasuke took the opportunity to jump to a lower branch and be able to see Naruto easier through the fog when said blonde's attention was aimed at the meat rather than himself.

Once again, Naruto circled around the bacon twice before bending over to sniff at it and salivate at the succulent scent. Sasuke then saw him poke the bacon cutel—IN A BEASTLIKE WAY before he gobbled it up in one bite.

Sasuke smirked to himself when he saw Naruto sit and chew. If he had a tail, Sasuke was sure that it would be wagging happily.

Sasuke's smirk grew as he realized that this was the calmest and happiest he had seen Naruto while in this wild beastlike state. He was sure that now Naruto had seen him throw the bacon, then he would realize that Sasuke was—or at least used to be—his friend if not his best friend.

He definitely preferred Naruto in his regular, human state, but he was not against the idea of this Naruto cuddling up to him…purring when Sasuke rubbed his belly…nuzzling against him…

No, he was not against that in the least.

With this in mind, Sasuke jumped down from the branches to on the ground in front of the tree he was just previously on. It was still rather foggy so he kept his Sharingan activated.

But as soon as he landed on the ground, Naruto tensed and whipped around, facing him in a crouching position.

Naruto's red, demonic eyes were set on him as he growled threateningly, reminding Sasuke that Naruto currently had the mind of a wild beast.

Sasuke would never admit that he froze when those eyes were set on him, because Uchihas do _not_ do 'fear'.

But they do understand self-preservation, so he understood that he needed to do something fast when Naruto started to charge at him.

Sasuke reached into his bag and grabbed the smaller of the two steaks he had and threw it at Naruto.

Naruto dodged the projectile, but when he did not recognize what had been thrown at him, Sasuke could see that Naruto assumed that it was a weapon and started to charge at him again.

Sasuke quickly reached into his bag and grabbed the last piece of bacon he had and tossed it at Naruto so that it would land in front of him.

As expected, Naruto dodged it, but the scent of the bacon made him stop in his tracks completely and turn his attention towards the bacon rather than the Uchiha.

Naruto's red eyes darted between the piece of bacon and Sasuke, who kept completely still; not even daring to blink as he kept eye contact with the animal in front of him.

Still glaring distrustfully, Naruto walked on all fours closer to the tantalizing bacon strip, but keeping eye contact with Sasuke who had deactivated his Sharingan in case Naruto thought that was threatening.

And it worked, or at least it seemed to as Naruto turned his full attention to circling around the bacon twice.

Red eyes glanced at Sasuke before returning to the bacon strip as Naruto sniffed it. Then he poked the bacon with his adorab—ANIMALISTIC nose before eating it.

After he chewed it—while keeping eye contact with Sasuke—Naruto began sniffing the area in case there was more bacon.

Sasuke almost smirked to himself when he saw Naruto's red eyes widen as he caught whiff of the steak nearby.

Naruto glanced over Sasuke with a glare before walking on all fours towards the steak.

While Naruto circled around the steak, Sasuke began to wonder whether or not he should have seasoned the steak with spices or how Naruto would eat it as he suddenly realized that the steak was definitely bigger than a single bite size.

Naruto sent Sasuke another distrustful glare while Sasuke kept his face calm and still, and then sniffed the steak.

Upon realizing that the steak smelled like very delicious food, Naruto's tongue stuck out from between his teeth and Sasuke saw that the blonde was salivating.

Naruto poked the steak with his nose and attempted to eat it, but like Sasuke had suspected, it was too large for him to fit into his mouth.

Sasuke began worrying that Naruto would abandon the steak and charge at him again since the remaining steak he had in his bag was larger than the steak Naruto was wrestling with.

Before Sasuke could do anything, though, Naruto crouched to his knees and elbows and used his clawed hands—fisted to resemble paws—to hold the steak down as he used his fangs to gnaw a bite off of the steak.

Once he achieved this feat, Naruto extended his arms—clawed hands still atop the steak—so he was sitting upright as he chewed.

After he swallowed his bite, he bent down so he could gnaw off another bite.

The process continued until the steak had vanished into Naruto's stomach; Sasuke had kept completely still all throughout.

After he had finished the steak, Naruto sniffed around the area, searching for more. When he found none, he turned back to Sasuke.

The Uchiha observed that the majority of the hunger that used to be prominent in Naruto's red, demonic eyes had disappeared, but saw that there was still some hunger visible.

But that was overpowered by Naruto's overall demeanor; he was crouched in a position that was ready to attack, his hair standing on edge, his claws digging into the ground, his fangs bared, and he was growling at Sasuke.

An animal was facing Sasuke, not his former teammate.

Even though Naruto looked ready to pounce, he started stalking towards Sasuke at a measured, slow pace. Not that that made Naruto's demeanor any less threatening.

Sasuke slowly reached into his bag and quickly brought out his remaining steak, holding it out so that Naruto could see.

Naruto's red eyes glared at him suspiciously as he sniffed his nose. Those red eyes lit up slightly when he recognized the scent of the steak, but that did not make him hurry over as it did before; he was approaching Sasuke at the same slow pace.

When Naruto was within reaching difference, he stopped.

He wasn't attacking…maybe the steak was too close to Sasuke's body? Was Naruto saying that it was alright to pet him as long as the steak was offered as a reward?

Sasuke's hand was definitely not shaking when he reached his hand out forwards so that he could pet Naruto.

Naruto's eyes darted towards Sasuke's hand and he bit at it.

If Sasuke hadn't pulled his hand back as quickly as he did, then he had no doubt that Naruto would have bit off at least a few fingers.

As he retreated his hand, he accidentally dropped the steak he held in the other hand.

Naruto's eyes slid to it and he stalked towards it and Sasuke, who kept completely still.

Naruto was about to circle the steak when he saw that Sasuke was still there, so he crouched once more, this time he looked ready to pounce.

Not wanting to leave any chance to fate in the vain hopes that his Nar—THE NARUTO FROM HIS MEMORIES was still in there and would not hurt him, Sasuke quickly pumped a lot of chakra into his legs and the bottom of his feet so that he could jump into the tree and not slip.

It was close, but he was able to successfully jump into the tree before Naruto could pounce on him; though Naruto's claw did rip his pants as they both jumped.

Once in the tree, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and looked down. He saw that Naruto had lost interest in him and had begun circling the steak in his adorab—ANIMALISTIC eating ritual.

It was getting late, and as much as he hated to admit it, Sasuke did not want Orochimaru or his pet Kabuto to get suspicious of him; especially when there was a storm on the way and he would have been expected back within the half hour if not sooner to avoid the torrents of rain that was sure to come.

Looking down, Sasuke allowed himself a smile as Naruto poked the steak with his nose; and allowed himself to admit that it was rather cute of his usurato—OF NARUTO to do this little ritual.

Sasuke took off running back through the trees so that he would be back to the base in approximately twenty-seven minutes or so and avoid suspicion.

While he ran, Sasuke wondered how he would be able to escape to the waterfall clearing tomorrow when it did rain.

Deciding that he would simply leave and tell Orochimaru to mind his own business and give anybody else—especially Kabuto—a Chidori if they asked, Sasuke allowed himself to imagine how Naruto would react when he realized that Sasuke had thrown the first piece of bacon near the bush he always hid in and pictured Naruto's adorable little ritual in his head, allowing the smile that brought to remain until he was within scouting range of Orochimaru's hideout.

* * *

**And that was the chapter!**

**So one of my roommates and I were comparing our ships, and while we may not particularly agree with each other's ships (she more towards the cartoons or such with aliens or robots with humans in the heterosexual way and myself in the Anime yaoi sense) we respect each other's shipping and will listen to each other's musings.**

**But one thing that we both agree on is how annoying male pregnancy is in stories. She may not get it quite as much in the stories she reads as I do, but it is enough to annoy us both. For her, the annoyance lies within how it is explained; like they aren't human so I can mess around with their anatomy (which can go for demons as well). For me, it is mostly how it's annoying that whoever gets preggers becomes essentially a chick with a penis.**

**As mentioned, we both find male pregnancy in stories annoying and generally just drop the story whenever it pops up. But that might just be us.**

**Anyhoo, thanks as always to those who favorite and alert. And a supermegafoxyawesomehot thanks to those who review!**


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